George Benson

[rosskoss]

So tell me about George Benson. I've heard some of his more famous smooth jazz tunes but I want to listen to GB - the guitar player.

Any recommendations? Hes put out so many records over the years that I don't know where to start looking.

[Sonny56]

I think "Breezin' is pretty much considered a must for Benson (and jazz) fans.

[Sputnik]

"Live at Casa Caribe"

It is an older live recording but recently released.

Great live jazz album you hear him blowing over some jazz standards like Oleo.

not in the Breezin' style.

[SonicTonic]

Check out "Beyond the Blue Horizon", "Good King Bad" or anything from the CTI period. This is his early 70's fusion period. Breezin is his breakthrough album from 1976. After that he ventured into singing (he had a huge hit with "Turn Your Love Around" in the early 80's) and the liter jazz. The title track off Breezin is very famous and can be considered a proto smooth-jazz track but I like it.

For his early Bop stuff try maybe the George Benson Cookbook. This is from 1966.

I love "Affirmation" off Breezin'

I tried this same thread on the Guitar Forum last week and actually got some replies!

[thamiam]

My favorite George Benson (there have been several ;) ) is as a soul-jazz guitarist.

Check out these three records of his to see why he was concerned the next step on the evolutionary ladder after Wes.
Giblet Gravy
The New Boss Guitar of George Benson
It's Uptown

Also, GB first got some fame playing with Brother Jack McDuff in his organ combos, His playing is a little less original back then, but the technique and ideas are still fabulous. That's great music in general, too. Good for parties, great for jamming with blues players.

[Jim Soloway]

My personal favorites are Good King Bad, The Other Side Of Abbey Road, White Rabbit, Blue Benson, and the George Benson Cook Book. For proof that he was still able to play at that level long after he left the straight ahead jazz world, check out his work on Organist Jack McDuff's 1992 CD: Color Me Blue.

I saw him play several years ago at the Hollywood Bowl as the headliner for a tribute concert to Wes Montgomery. The opener was Mundell Lowe substituting for Joe Pass who passed away a few months earlier. Next was Lee Rittenauer whose current release at the time was his tribute album Wes Bound. And the finally Benson to climax the show. It was an interesting performance by Benson. Since it was a tribute performance, he seemed to be liberated from his MOR persona. He played about 45 minutes that could have come from directly from his work in the late 60's: brilliant, crisp, well articulated and creative. He talked about studying with Wes when he was a kid and he was playing a Gibson L5 that had belonged to Wes. On the other hand, he knew that there were several thousand people who there because they were fans of his pop music, so he finished his set with 30 minutes of fairly mundane funk and then played Masquerade as his encore. His funk was well played, but I wouldn't have payed to hear it, just as I haven't bought an album he's made in the last 20 years.

[rosskoss]

Thanks fellas

Anymore suggestions?

[ONEN]

I'm often miffed at George Benson later smooth-pop stuff. I mean... does/did he actually make money out of it? I can only assume so, kinda like a Carlos Santana retirement package, because the guys an awesome, fabled guitarist.... why not stay an awesome, fabled guitar legend? Unless he's grown out of jazz, or something...

You gotta do what you gotta do, I suppose. :confused:

[Jim Soloway]

Originally posted by ONEN
I'm often miffed at George Benson later smooth-pop stuff. I mean... does/did he actually make money out of it? I can only assume so, kinda like a Carlos Santana retirement package, because the guys an awesome, fabled guitarist.... why not stay an awesome, fabled guitar legend? Unless he's grown out of jazz, or something...

You gotta do what you gotta do, I suppose. :confused:

It's really pretty simple. He had a family to support and jazz wasn't making him enough money to keep them alive. Before Breezing, he was struggling just to make enough to pay the basics. Now he's a star for life. I don't listen to anything he does anymore, but I never begrudge a musician's success, no matter what it takes. It's just way too uncommon.

[rosskoss]

Originally posted by ONEN
I'm often miffed at George Benson later smooth-pop stuff. I mean... does/did he actually make money out of it? I can only assume so, kinda like a Carlos Santana retirement package, because the guys an awesome, fabled guitarist.... why not stay an awesome, fabled guitar legend? Unless he's grown out of jazz, or something...

You gotta do what you gotta do, I suppose. :confused:

I guess he wanted fame, fortune and commercial success

http://www.guitar.com/features/viewfeature.asp?featureID=171

[ONEN]

Originally posted by Jim Soloway


It's really pretty simple. He had a family to support and jazz wasn't making him enough money to keep them alive. Before Breezing, he was struggling just to make enough to pay the basics. Now he's a star for life. I don't listen to anything he does anymore, but I never begrudge a musician's success, no matter what it takes. It's just way too uncommon.

Yeah, I'm not dissing the guy, he's done more for music than I ever will, and you cant eat respect. I'm happy to see anyone get ahead in music (yes, even boy/girl bands. In fact, it annoys me most to hear people dissing them). I've heard he's still open to new idea's & always keeps his chops warm, too. While we're on the subject: whats some awesome Santana?

[Jim Soloway]

Originally posted by ONEN


Yeah, I'm not dissing the guy, he's done more for music than I ever will, and you cant eat respect. I'm happy to see anyone get ahead in music (yes, even boy/girl bands. In fact, it annoys me most to hear people dissing them). I've heard he's still open to new idea's & always keeps his chops warm, too. While we're on the subject: whats some awesome Santana?

My favorite after all these years is atill Abraxis and the self-titled first album.

[thisllub]

Originally posted by ONEN


While we're on the subject: whats some awesome Santana?

The first one I got was Moonflower - half live. Good mix

[thamiam]

Easy Gear.....

I can say with ease that George Benson is the most skilled guitarist I have ever heard. The things he does simply can't be done.

I can also say without conflict that George Benson has made some historically bad music, and a bevy of sub-par to poor albums.

The same can be said about a lot of great musicians. It doesn't diminish what they did at their best.

And whether or not I can play as well as GB (which I can't, obviously) doesn't disqualify me from saying that one particular song he happens to play is is a bad piece of music. It doesn't mean I am disrespecting anybody, because everybody knows Benson has earned all the respect in the world.

[Frank Prince]

"Good King Bad" and "Bad Benson" are 2 of my favorites.

I also read some press a while back that said that George sat in with Stevie Ray Vaughn one time and blew Stevie off the stage using a borrowed guitar and amp!
I'd have trouble believing it if were anyone besides George (except maybe Scott Henderson).

[Miff Mole]

It's a sad commentary on culture/taste/art/money in our society.

I saw him play once in the 70's, the pre-Breezin' era. It was a transcendent performance. Possibly the best live guitar playing I've ever heard. By the end he had a crowd at a jazz show standing on their feet, yelling and screaming.

I saw an interview with him 10 or 15 years later...he admitted flat out that he had to go pop to make a living and feed his family.

:(

[ONEN]

Gear, you really need to take this more third-person.

Noone is attacking George Benson. Noone is attacking his musical direction. If he donned a baseball cap & started rapping about his childhood, and all the haters out there, he would still have the respect earned by his early audience. And his current audience. Thats what "legend" means. The hero is remembered for saving the world, not getting off with the bird at the end of the movie.

However, to expect a person disposed to one style of music to view his later, different, music with the same value is fanciful. This is not the Cult Of Benson. This is a group of guitarists for whom some of his music was awesome, and some isnt. If I had a sit-in with George Benson (I wish :( ) I would like to learn the things that appealed to me. Not the things that appealed to an audience of baseball cap-wearing anti-hater fans. And fans of the future Nu-Benson Rap craze prolly wouldnt be interested in learning the tricks from his 60's jazz days.

[Jim Soloway]

Originally posted by Gearasameanstoamusicalend
How about this:

Think of the George Benson record that you despise the most. Listen to it from a production point of view. Analyze it from a technical point of view. Chart the tunes and play the different parts.

You will learn a ton.

You can then decide to play the stuff, or not.

Now, compare the sales of this record to the best-selling record you have. Who sold more?

You see, sales mean that the music was appreciated by someone. Real people bought the records. Many even enjoyed the music.

You are criticizing an artist for selling their work?

It doesn't meet your standards of purity and good?

It's America! You're free to say it.

You are also free to do better.

Even at your artistic best, you'll have critics. Critics have talents as critics.

If you played your music for George Benson, what would he say about your stuff?

I'll bet that any of you would love to take a lesson with him. If you did, would you spend the time moaning about a Benson record you personally didn't like?

Or, would you bite your tongue and try to learn something that could make you better?

I'd learn everything I could, giving Benson the respect that he has earned over a lifetime of work.

That's what this post is about.

If you really want to hear George, playing the style of music that you love the most, contact his agent, and hire him for a private gig.

You could even sit in with him. He is very personable and would like to hear you play!

I'm curious why you seem to take this so personally?

George Benson is a brilliant guitar player. From the mid 60's to the mid 70's he was, along with Joe Pass, one of the two most important jazz guitar players in the world. His body of work from that period is the equal of any period in the life of any one who has ever played the instrument. Sadly, the state of jazz is such that regardless of his aclaim and success, he was unable to make enough money to adequately support his family. As a consequence he turned to making music that he knew would reach a wider audience and he succeeded. I don't disrespct him for that and I haven't read much in this thread that suggests that anyone else does either. Frankly, I'm glad he's found commercial success. He paid his dues and he deserves an appropriate reward.

Of course I would love to take a lesson from him. He is one of greatest guitar players who ever lived. However, that being said, I still wouldn't recommend a single album he's made since Breezin' to anyone and I wouldn't spend any more of my money on buying any of those albums. I have a couple of times and they've ended up in the used CD bins fairly quickly. Why that seems to offend you is a complete mystery to me.

[rosskoss]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to get Cookbook

[rosskoss]

Hey man, are you 'Tag' from the PRS forum? Just curious.

[Frank Prince]

I hear a lot of music that makes me think that the artist is lucky to get a record deal and have the public buy their music.

George Benson is one of the artists that makes me think that the PUBLIC is lucky that he got a record deal so they can buy HIS music.

[WGH]

This might be a little off-topic, but I thought I saw a signature here or in the guitar forum about a young George Benson walking into a small club in NY, seeing a really young, famous player (I can't remember who) and getting all discouraged because he thought everybody was a monster and he had no chance to make it.

Anyway, I'm always amazed when one fine player is intimidated by another.

[rosskoss]

Originally posted by WGH
This might be a little off-topic, but I thought I saw a signature here or in the guitar forum about a young George Benson walking into a small club in NY, seeing a really young, famous player (I can't remember who) and getting all discouraged because he thought everybody was a monster and he had no chance to make it.

Anyway, I'm always amazed when one fine player is intimidated by another.

Yeah, that was George at 18 seeing Pat Martino(at age 17) play when he first came to NY

[So What]

I saw Benson twice at a little hole in the wall in San Francisco called Keystone Korner, before Breezing. and sat in the front row with my feet on the edge of the stage about, I shit you not, about 4 feet from George.

Both times I saw him needless to say he played his ass off. BUT from what I recall he didn't look happy at all. He was like that both times. Came out and played and then left.....

The thing about Breezin for me was I love it when I first heard it and grew to hate it because of the radio stations. I never want to hear that record again...

I like GB before Breezin.......and I never want to hear him scat again.....:D

Pat Martino / Scott Henderson these two are geting old and kicking all young guitar players ass's:D

[Fred5]

Inspired writing, Gearasamusicalend ;) Makes me want to agree.

[L5S]

STUD

I also love Pat Martino...

[Jimmy James]

Benson's idol Wes Montgomery took the same heat that Benson get's for playing Pop.

Everybody's a critic.

[riffdaddy]

I think George is one of the best jazz guitarists ever--an absolute monster. He never seemed to have the knack for putting together albums and ensembles the way that some guitarists do (Pat Metheny comes to mind). Strictly from a playing standpoint, however, I see him as the natural heir to the Wes Montgomery throne. And like Wes, George sees a lot of success in popular music. Not many jazz guitarists can claim that.

[Nelson]

Nice to see Benson fans. I certainly am. Been playing to his albums
since White Rabbit (well 'trying' to play). I just recently bought
his signature guitar and it does have that 'tone' which I love.
I never expect to be able to do what he does but I do bring a little
of him along into my own music. I basicly learned scales just from
playing to his albums. I was surprised to learn years later these
'formations' I had learned had names.

[Gramish]

I'll second Brother Jack McDuff. "Live! w/ George Benson, Red Holloway, Harold Vick and Joe Dukes" is one of the best albums I own. Though you kinda have to be in the mood for that Bluesy Jazz. It's two live club shows edited together from 1963.

Daa Daa Da'-Daa Daa Da'-Da' Daa Daa

It's mad, they all play the same sick little solo on their instruments from B3 Organ to Saxophone. Check it out, cuz it should cost less than some new MTV crap.

[koiwoi]

Great thread. I'm a huge GB fan, but I'm not a jazz purist. I can't believe that nobody has mentioned his voice. The man has a great set of pipes IMO.

I'm a guitarist, first and foremost, but I would consider half of my ticket wasted if I went to see him and he only did instrumentals.

[jt9057]

Not on Cd, but if you can find the original lp by Jimmy Smith entitled "The Boss" you'll find some extended burning solos from George. I think it came out in '68 or '69.

[JazzRules]

Yes, his real jazz stuff:

Body Talk
Bad Benson
Benson and Farrell
Breezin (big hit)
Tenderly (Real Book tunes with McCoy Tyner)
That's Right

Benson is IT. Perhaps the greatest jazz guitarist of all time. Certainly when one factors in technique, aural sense, swing, the whole package, he's hard to top.

Wes Montgomery was Benson's hero and his music still sounds fabulous today. No pick, just used his thumb. He also was the octave pioneer of guitar. Beautiful player, died at the age of 43.

Charlie Christian came before Montgomery and he died at age 23.